Downrigger Trolling
Lake Erie Steelhead Fishing Techniques
Lake Erie’s central basin has proven has proven to be a gold mine for catching trophy steelhead trout. If you plan to visit in search of Lake Erie steelhead, many fishermen suggest fishing from May through the end of October.
A local fishing guide from Wall Hanger Charters explained steelhead trolling techniques, saying, ” We can run planer boards out the side of the boat and run ten lines off these boards. The jet drives can go down 10 to 50 plus feet depending on the length of the line. In the spring, we are typically running 10 jets back 30 to 40 foot leads in 20 foot of water with worm harnesses and flutter type spoons, the baits of choice. We also run crank baits at this time of year, typically back 100 feet.”
He went on to explain mid-season fishing, explaining, “As the water warms, and summer is upon us, we move to deeper waters running 40 and 50 jets with leads of 60 to 125 feet back. This is also the time we start to use dipsy divers back the same amount of lengths. When using dipsy divers we run a 6 foot lead behind them with Michigan stinger spoons in various colors.”
Some of the hot colors are perch, watermelon and chartreuse. During Spring fishing, trolling speeds are typically 1.0 to 1.5 miles per hour. As waters warm, speeds increase to 1.5 to 2.2 miles per hour. As the water warms even more in the summer, fishermen troll deeper waters with downriggers and dipsy divers fished down deep. During this time of year, speeds are increased to 3 miles per hour, catching trout and walleye.
Trolling an S pattern really also helps to trigger these fish during the spring. The bait fish in the deeper waters are larger alewives, smelt, and emeralds. This is the time to use larger spoons in the 4-6 inch range. Up to 16 rods at one time are used in deeper waters. 8 rods are run on planer boats, 6 dipsy divers and 2 down riggers. The dipsy divers are set on different settings of 1, 2, and 3. The downriggers use 10 pound balls with leads of 25 feet.
In addtion to fishing for trophy steelhead and walleye, the region is known for excellent catches of yellow perch.
About the Author
For more steelhead fishing tips and techniques, visit Lake Erie Fishing Charters.
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